Chup

ABSTRACT

A shaped fish hook guard designed to enclose various sized fish hooks or gangs of fish hooks pivotally suspended from a lure. The fishook guard is made of hard plastic that comprises a slotted casing through which the shank of a fish hook can be slid and a snap on cover extending partially over an open end of a pair of opposite coincident slots. Where the lure is not used, a fishing line passes through a slot to be attached to the shank of a single pronged hook.

[0001] This application supersedes provisional application No.60/223,992 filed on Aug. 9, 2000 and under Title 35, United States Code,119(e) claims the benefit thereof.

[0002] This invention pertains to a simple but unique design for acovering up fish hooks when not in use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The art teaches a number of products developed to prevent fishhooks from entangling from entangling one another or doing injury to thefisherman. A number of these devices use sheaths having narrow slots forconfining the fish hooks when not in use. At least one of the productsuses a foam type material for embedding the hooks until ready for usewhile another device makes use of gravitational force to extricate ahook from its shield when a fishing operation is to start.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 2,482,881 is a guard for fish hooks especially ofthe three pronged type, It is said that the guard may be safely andeasily carried and conveniently stored when not in use. It is easy toconstruct and the cost of manufacturing is low. FIG. 1 shows aconventional lure having two three pronged hooks where the guard isapplied to the prongs. The guards are made of hard rubber, which isslightly flexible. The guards have a central opening adapted to receivethe stem of the of the hook. A slot having a V-shaped entrance leads toan opening. The slot is wide enough to permit the entrance of the stemlocated in the opening when the guard is used as a proitector. There arealso a pair of slits that extend from the periphery of the guard to theopening. Both slits have a V-shaped entrance only at the bottom surfaceto permit an easy adjustment and seating of the prongs. within the slitsand slot.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,209 is another shield for fishhooks thataffords protection agains entangling. The design is similat to '881above, except that instead of using flexible rubber for the body,plastic or metal is used and for enclosing the hooks packets aresubstituted for slits. The loops of the hooks is inserted between flaredupper ends of the pockets and shifted endwise into the pockets withuntil the loops and points are confined between the pocket walls.Resilient indented portions of the pockets will grip poretions of theloops and hold them in the pockets to detachably secure the shield onthe gang of hooks. The ribs in the central portion of the body also helpengage the portions of the shanks of the hooks which are usuallysoldered.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 2,775,060 shos a fish hook guard on a gang typefish hook that comprises a pear shaped resilient rubber body with areduced area section at on e end merging into a reduced neck. The neckand body include a plurality of circumferentially radially designedslots. The slots are so sized as to accommodate the barbed hooks whichare frictionally engaged with the sides of the slots. The frictionalforce is set so as not to prevent ready removal of the hooks.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,346 is described as point pads for treblepoint fishhooks. The bottom of the pad is made of foam plastic intowhich the fishook can be readily embedded for protection of the angleras well as the hook when not in use. The top of the pad is made ofharder material. The pad is shaped as an equilateral trinagle with acentral-through aperture on a through-slit extending from the apertureto one side of the pad. A notch extends inwardly and communicates withthe slot. The pads are easily and cheaply produced by a one-step diecasting operation.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,084 is a fish hook protective cover thatincludes a base made of flexible plastic that supports a plurality ofpockets that permits each pocket to pivot downwardly and away from theothers to expose one barbed hook at a time. The radially inner edges ofthe pockets lie spaced from each other to define an open region thatextends downwardly to the web for receiving the shank portion of aplural fishhook therein. After a pocket has been pivoted downwardly toexpose the hook, buttons serve to retain the pocket in its openposition, but the buttons can be separated to permit removal orinsertion of the hook.

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,114 is a fish hook sheath, wherein thenovelty is the provision of a finger guard which isolates the apertureregion from that grasped by a user's fingers. The guard has one or moreholes for stringing sheaths together., and multiple sheaths can beinjection molded.

[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,579 has a different concept than theheretofore mentioned devices. It is a sng proof fishing line thatautomatically shields the barb of a hook when removed from the water andexposes the hook when submerged. The device includes a J shaped hookwith a barb at one end and an eyelet at the other end. A shield ispivotally connected to the hook shank below the eyelet to cover the barbof the line when not submerged. When the hook sinks, submersion of theshield is limited to effectively keep the shield from the sinking barb.On lifting the line from the water, the weight of the shield causes itto be lowered on the barb.

[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,040 is a hook guard made of resilientmaterial wherein the leg and arm of the guard are shaped to have adifferent angle than that between the prongs of a hook. Because of theresilience of the body, the leg and arm are capable of being shaped intoan angle about the same as that of the angle between the prongs so thatthe prongs can be readily inserted into the cavity and thereafterfrictionally retained when the leg and arm return to their normalposition.

[0012] The guards and sheaths of the prior art, while serving to reduceentanglement of hooks and injury to the fisherman, are cumbersome to usefor the most part. In most of the guards the barbed hooks must beinserted into a narrow pocket or slit where there is still a possibilityof getting the finger snagged either in insertion or removal. (Note thefinger guard of '814). Furthermore, while it is stated that the cost ofmanufacture is low, there is still the necessity of forming specialmolds and dies. especially when there are a number of shaped slots andslits as well as ribs and buttons. The apparatus that uses foam pads ismuch simpler, but it is apparent that after a number of insertions andremoval of the hooks from these pads, the plastic foam would requirereplacement. The disadvantage of the device '579 is lack of flexibilityin the type of hook used. Whereas most of the other devices one can usemultiple pronged hook as well as a single hook or a gang of hooks, withthis apparatus, you are more or less confined to a single hook.Furthermore the shield does not appear to be in frictional engagementwith the hook, so therce is a possibility that when the lure is liftedout of the water, the hook could slip out of the shield.

[0013] It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a simple,inexpensive device that does not require special type molds or dies tomanufacture.

[0014] It is also an object of this invention to provide a devicewherein a single hook, a three pronged hook or a gang of hooks can beused.

[0015] It is further an object of this invention to provide a simplecover in which the barbed hook can be inserted or removed with ease. andwith little likelihood of injury to the users fingers.

[0016] It is finally an object of this invention to provide a fish guardthat does not require any involved geometrical shape, or finger guardsor foam pads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0017] The apparatus of this invention is directed to the utilization ofa cover up protector, known by the acronym “CHUP”.In one embodiment, aconventional lure is shaped somewhat like a small dirigible with one endsimulating a fish head. Brackets are mounted on the ventral side of thelure to which a plurality of three pronged fish hooks are pivoatallyattached. When not in use, the shanks of these fish hooks slide intonarrow slots of a plastic casing. A snap on cover is then fitted overthe the end of the slot. Absent the lure a single fish hook couldsimilarly be adapted to have a protective cover.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lure showing a gang of hookssuspended on the lure and encased in the protective covers.

[0019]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the casing with disassembledcover.

[0020]FIG. 3 is a persepctive view of the casing with assembled with thecover.

[0021]FIG. 4 shows the assembled casing enclosing a single hook to whicha fishing line is attached.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022]FIG. 1 shows a protective casing I for a fish hook with a cover 2.A bracket 3 is affixed to the ventral side of a lure 5 and the shank ofa three pronged hook 4 is pivotally suspended from the bracket by aneyelet 6 at the end of the shank which surrounds the bracket. The casingand cover are made of a hard plastic such as cellulose acetate or apolyester The cover is of the snap on type. Integral with the cover is acircumferential flange 10 that facilitates removal and placement of thecover over the casing. The cover is provided with two slots 8 whichextend from the end of the casing to about one third of distance of thelength of the casing as seen in FIG. 1. The slots are opposite andcoincident with each other. The slots are of a width to allow the shankof the hook to readily slide through, and the casing is of a size toaccompany various size hooks. As seen in FIG. 4, absent the lure, anarrower slot 11 is used for a single fish hook, and a fishing line 7 isconnected to eyelet 6 a that extends from the end of the shank of thehook. The cover of the casing can be coated with a fluorescent paint toassist in fishing at night. To assure that the cover will not separatefrom the casing, a pair of small projections 13 can be formed on thecover. These projections will fit into corresponding dimples 14 on thecasing. To remove the cover slight pressure can be applied to thecasing. The shape of the casing is generally that seen in FIG. 1, namelyoval shaped although others could be used.

[0023] In operation, the lure with the attached three pronged hooks andthe assembled casing can be stored in a fishing kit or other suitablestorage area. When fishing is to commence, the cover of the casing isremoved, and the shank with the hooks is slid out of the casing. Thehooks are baited and fishing can start. The same operation applies toother type hooks not sttached to lures.

[0024] While particular embodiments of the invention has been described,it is obious to one skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications could be made without departing from the scope of theinvention as shown by the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A fish hook protective guard for enclosing a barbed hook:comprising: a) a casing of a size to accommodate various size hooks, b)said casing having an open end with two opposite and coincident slotsextending from said open end to about one third the length of saidcasing, said slots being of a width to allow a shank of a fish hook toslide through and allow said fish hook to readily seat in said casing,c) a snap on cover having a circumferential flange integral therewith,said flange extending over a portion of said slots, d) said shank havingan eyelet and a fishing line connected to said eyelet and extendingthrough one of said slots.
 2. A fish hook guard as in claim 1 whereinsaid casing and said cover are made of hard plastic.
 3. A fish hookguard as in claim 3 wherein said hard plastic is a cellulose acetate ora polyester.
 4. A fish hook guard as in claim 1 wherein said snap oncover is coated with a fluorescent paint.
 5. A fish hook guard as inclaim 1 wherein said circumferential flange has two oppositely locatedprojections, said projections seating in corresponding dimples adjacentsaid open end of said casing.
 6. A fish hook guard as in claim 1 whereinsaid casing and cover are oval shaped.
 7. A fishing lure having aplurality of brackets affixed to its ventral side comprising: a) aplurality of three pronged fish hooks having shanks with eyeletspivotally connect to said brackets, b) protective guards for enclosingeach of said three pronged hooks in a casing of a size to accommodatevarious size hooks, c) said casing having an open end with two opposite,coincident slots extending from said open end to about one third thelength of said casing, said slots being of a width to allow said shanksto slide through and allow said fish hook to readily seat in saidcasing, d) a snap on cover having a circumferential flange integraltherewith, said flange extending over a portion of said slots, e) saidcasing and said cover being made of hard plastic, and said cover beingcoated with fluorescent paint.